Shattered Glass
by ForevaLovnCullen
Summary: On hold, due to the fact that I need to work harder on my novel as I may have a publisher for it, provided that I finish it in time.
1. Chapter 1: The Getaway

The music boomed from the large black speakers in the corner of the beach house that belonged to my friend Danielle's parents. Everyone who went to our school and even some who didn't, were there at the party. The celebration of the end of the school year and the beginning for freedom, raged through each of the bodies occupying the indoor and outdoor areas. All I wanted was to get out, to get away from everything here. Nothing seemed the same to me anymore. I could hardly remember anything anymore, I rarely did anything except train, and when I wasn't training at the gym I was training at home in the basement and when it was nice in the back yard. Gymnastics was my life, I had nothing outside of that little bubble. Sure I had friends, a boyfriend and family, but all I ever wanted was to be an Olympic Gymnast. I'd started gymnastics for recreation when I was just three years old, because my mother was tired of me doing somersaults all over the house. One night a week for fun, soon turned into two and then three nights a week. By the time I was seven, I was going to the gym Monday thru Friday. And by the time I was ten I had almost completely stopped eating, I needed to be perfect, and the only way to be perfect was to be light and fast. Light and fast encouraged me to train harder, eat less, exercise more, condition more, do what ever it takes. And I did.

Now at fifteen I had just gotten injured bad enough, to probably ruin my gymnastics career, forever. My body was weak from the lack of nutrients, my bones were frail and my skin was chalky and pasty. My rib cage was visible under my skin, not as shocking as the Holocaust Prisoners, but scary looking enough. I sat outside on the ledge of the balcony in my red and white flower bikini looking down on all of my friends having fun, none of them knowing my pain. My physical, emotional or psychological pain. There I sat, alone, a mango martini in my left hand, my right hand held me safely in place on the ledge. Why couldn't I just let loose, and have fun, eat junk food and wash it down with Pepsi? I could, but that would mean giving up everything that I've worked so hard to acquire. Most times I was alone, refusing to leave my training to travel with my parents for my fathers work, they left me in the care of the housekeepers. Naturally with my parents being gone so often and my siblings with them it was quite easy for me to either not eat or throw up what I'd already ingested. Suddenly I felt something grip me tight around the waist. "Hey gorgeous!" My boyfriend Marques yelled as he pulled me off the ledge. "What are you doing up here all alone?"

"Thinking." I said looking up at him. Compared to my slight figure and height, Marques was a giant at 6'3 and 178 pounds. His skin was tanned from the days he spent playing basketball in the sun, he had beautiful sea blue eyes and short curly blond hair.

"Thinking about what?" He asked pulling me onto his lap as he sat down on the iron chair by the balcony doors.

"Lots of things," I shrugged, even I could hear the sadness in my voice.

"Well stop it, this is a party. You're supposed to be having fun, not moping around."

"It's not that easy Marq. You don't understand anything….just…just leave me alone." I yelled pushing myself away from him and storming off into the house.

"Heather! Wait!" I heard him yell as he followed closely behind me.

"Get away from me Marques. I just want you to leave me alone. I want everyone to leave me alone! I don't need anybody's help!" I screamed turning to face him, not caring that everyone at the party had stopped to watch at this point.

"But, Heather…I want to understand, I want to help…"

I wanted to scream back at him, but somehow I had lost my voice and everything in front of me had gone blurry. I hadn't eaten anything in two weeks and I'd consumed at least 5 Mango Martini's since I arrived at the party. I braced myself before I could fall, and everything became clear again, my voice came back to me and I was even more angry than before. My friend Kylie had just walked up to me to make sure everything was ok. "Heather, Hun. Have you eaten anything? You've drank a lot." She said concerned.

"UGH! Will everyone just leave me the fuck alone! Jesus! I am fine! And now I am leaving! Don't follow me, just leave me ALONE!" I screamed as I ripped away from Marques' grip and sprinted out the door.

It hadn't occurred to me until I reached the front steps of the house that I'd driven here with Marques, but I didn't care. It wasn't that far to my house I would just run there, I needed to work off the calories from those martini's anyway. Running made me feel free, like nothing could touch me and the fresh air rushing past my face calmed me down. When I reached my house I raced up the front steps and inside, locking the door behind me. I was sweating, thirsty, hungry, slightly dizzy and I felt sick to my stomach. I walked across the entry way to the kitchen and grabbed a glass from the cabinet above the sink and filled it with cold water. I gulped it down and drank another glass, but I still felt dizzy and sick. The next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital, hearing that awful beeping from the machines. I opened my eyes and Marques was sitting on me left, Kylie and Casey, my two best friends on my right. I smiled at Kylie and Casey and apologized. "Get him out of here." I ordered looking at Marques. No one knew, but Marques was part of the problem and I never wanted to see his face again.

"Why?" Kylie asked shocked by my reaction at his presence.

"I just want him out! Get him out of here! I don't ever want to see him again!" I said raising my voice as loud as I could. My voice was harsh and scratchy.

A nurse heard me and came rushing into the room. "Something wrong?" She asked.

"I want him out of here, now!" I yelled pointing my finger at him.

The nurse had security remove Marques from my room and make sure that there was no way he could get back in. My parents, of course, only called to make sure that I was alright. I looked at my two best friends and felt more ashamed than ever, how could I let them see me in the fragile state. I was always the tough one, yet here I am frail as ever, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. I needed to get away, but where could I go that was far enough away that no one could or would come after me? Just at this precise moment I got the most brilliant idea, my aunt Marie. My favorite aunt had moved to London, England when I was ten, and the only time I ever got to see her was when she came around for the holidays. She had always told me I was aloud to come visit and stay with her, but my parents always said no, I'm not exactly sure why. Casey's voice broke my train of thought. "Heather. How long had it been since you had eaten anything?" She asked concerned, a pained look on her face.

I turned my head so I didn't have to look into their eyes and shrugged. "I don't remember. A few weeks, maybe. Who cares." I shrugged again.

"We care!" They both answered raising their voices slightly to show the concern and authority in their voices. Kylie and Casey were twins, though not identical. I'd known them since I moved to California when I was seven.

"I'm sorry guys, I just…I don't know…I'm fat…I can't help it."

"If you're fat Alex, then what the hell does that make me?? A fucking humpbacked whale?" Kylie accused shocked by my matter of fact tone.

"No you are perfect, so is Casey! I on the other hand am far from it! There is something wrong with me." I'd started to cry at this point and I couldn't continue talking about it any longer. "Are they feeding me?" I asked.

Kylie nodded her head. "Yes you have a feeding tube, you need to eat."

"Ugh." I moaned. "I need to leave. When can I check out of here?"

"Why do you need to leave?" Casey asked eying me curiously.

"I've got shit to do. Places to go, people to see."

Just then a nurse walked in to check on me. She was tall and lanky with red hair and pale skin. She had blue eyes and freckles all over her face. Too large black plastic framed glasses sat on her nose as she read over my chart and checked all my vitals. "How are you feeling today? You gave everyone quite a fright." She murmured checking the machine by my bed.

"I'm fine. Um, when may I leave?"

"The doctor will be in shortly and he should be releasing you dear. Take care." She said walking out of the room and closing the door behind her.

The nurse was right, about half an hour after she was in the doctor came through the door. He went over my instructions and my release papers and made me sign all of them. I had to eat lunch before I was able to leave the hospital and the girls were to be driving me home, since I had no car. The drive home was fairly short and the girls insisted on staying with me for a few hours until I finally convinced them they could go home, that I was going to bed and I would call them in the morning. The second I was positive they had left I picked up my cell phone and dialed my aunt Marie's phone number. "Hello?" I heard her ask, her New York accent now had a slight British twist to it.

"Auntie Marie. It's me Heather."

"Darling, are you alright? You sound exhausted."

"No auntie, I'm really not alright. I need a huge favor." my voice breaking slightly. I knew I couldn't hold the tears back for long.

"Anything dear, what's wrong?"

"Can I come stay with you please? I can't stand it anymore. I'm sick, there is something wrong with me! I don't know what to do. I'm all alone. I need someone, I need you…they…they don't care. I was just in the hospital and they couldn't even fly home. They called to see if I was ok. They called!! They called once and that was it! Just once. They don't love me!" I explained in a rush, the tears now flowing freely.

"Oh darling. I wish I could hold you right this moment. Of course you can come here. I don't care what your father says. I'm booking a flight for you right now, you just get your things and go to the airport, dear. Everything will be taken care of. I'll send you a text with your information on it as soon as I can, I promise. I love you. Be careful. I'll see you soon."

"Bye auntie Marie! Thank you so much." I managed to choke out.

I hung up the phone and sprinted up the stairs to my bedroom. I had a stash of cash in a shoebox in my closet. I grabbed it and took all the money out of it. I grabbed two large suitcases, a duffle bag and a carry on backpack. I shoved all of my clothing and favorite shoes into the suitcases, toiletries and everything else including books and movies and things like that went into the duffle bag, while I shoved one book, my smaller CD case, CD player, cell phone, laptop and a tablet and pen into the back pack. I showered and changed into light blue jeans, a baby blue Roxy t-shirt and a matching pair of Roxy flip-flops and headed downstairs. I left my parents a note on the counter of the center island in the kitchen and told the housekeepers not to remove it. Then I called for a cab to take me to the airport.

I arrived at LAX and received a text message from my aunt telling me that my ticket was ready and my flight would be leaving at 9:30 pm. It was now 6:30, I had three hours to kill. I got my ticket at the desk, and went through claims, bag checks and security before seating myself in the uncomfortable row of seats closest to the doors that would lead me to freedom. I pulled out my copy if Dracula and began reading it, again. This was probably my hundredth time reading it, but I loved it so much. The pages were worn, discolored and falling apart, but I loved it and refused to purchase a new copy until this one was illegible. The time passed quickly, quicker than I thought it would. I didn't want to sleep in the airport, I knew I'd have plenty of time to do that on my ten hour flight. I felt horrible for abandoning my friends, but right now this was about me and what I needed. I would email them in the morning explaining everything, but right now I just couldn't do it.

As I boarded the plane I realized that I was booked in first class, I should have known. My aunt never was one to do things half-assed. I settled into my seat and prepared myself for a long flight. I had an entire seat to myself so I could stretch out and sleep. The stewardess gave me a nice fluffy pillow and a blanket, she kept checking on me, I suppose she could tell that I was sick and that something was very wrong with me. I hadn't noticed her giving so much attention to the others on the flight. She offered me food, drink, more pillows and blankets, headphones for the movies, and everything else you could imagine. I politely turned her down for everything except for bottles of water and the occasional Advil for a headache I had acquired around the third hour into the flight. I woke on the last hour of the flight, sitting up in my seat and rubbing my neck. My body had become stiff and sore from sitting for so long and sleeping awkwardly in the seat. I could already feel the freedom flowing through my body, I felt like a different person, like a better person. Something still felt off though, and I couldn't put my finger on it. Probably just nerves or something ridiculous like that I would tell myself. And the second my feet touched the ground in London, the feeling of completeness washed over me, I was filled with happiness and elation and every good emotion I hadn't felt in such a long time. It was at this exact moment I knew, that things were only going to get better, I knew that I made the right decision, all of my fears and doubts were washed away.


	2. Chapter 2: Night On The Town

The first few weeks with my aunt were hell. She forced me to eat, and even though it was all healthy foods I still felt like I was a traitor to myself. Physically, mentally and emotionally I felt much better, I felt alive again, I felt human. Something I hadn't felt in quite sometime, I'd just never noticed until the feeling returned to me. Upon forcing me to eat she would stay with me until there was absolutely no way that I would be able to regurgitate anything. Next on her list was my self esteem, she took psychology in college so she became my therapist. Slowly I started to realize that there are millions of girls out there dying to have the body that I have now, still slim but not sickly skinny and I thought I was fat, when in all actuality I was too skinny. Staying with my aunt got me up to a healthy 105 pounds, which was natural for a girl my size.

I could tell it was morning, the sun was peaking through the cracks in my curtains, and I could hear my uncle down stairs getting ready to leave for work. There was a light tap at my door and it creaked open. "Darling, how are you feeling today?" My aunt Marie asked sitting on the side of my bed.

"Good." I smiled.

"Excellent! I just wanted to tell you how proud of you I am also dear. You've come so far in such a short amount of time." She oozed with pride. I simply nodded and smiled, I was still sleepy.

"Now, we have some guests coming over for dinner tonight, a good friends of ours. They have a son you're age and two older daughters. Their son Robert is the only one that will be joining his parents tonight though." She smiled and continued. "He has offered to show you around, since you're better now. He is very nice I think you'll like him." She beamed.

"Ok. Sounds good. I'm going to shower, what should I wear?" I asked not knowing what this Robert actually had in store for us tonight.

"Wear whatever you like dear, you always look good in whatever you wear." She smiled before leaving the room and closing the door behind her.

I smiled to myself, the thought of my aunt trying to set me up made me giggle. She was right though, I did need to get out, and maybe he wouldn't be so bad. I showered quickly, and went to find something to wear. I chose a white jean skirt that was pleated in the front and back and it came slightly above my knees. I paired it with a light pink halter top and I had a matching jacket for the skirt that I would carry with me in case I got cold. Now for some shoes, you can never go wrong with flip flops, so I slipped into my white ones and set to doing my hair and make up. I straightened my hair, which took up about an hour of my time due to the thickness of it. I never wore much make up, I threw on some mascara, eye liner and lip gloss.

I ran down stairs when my aunt called up for tea, I was getting used to all of the British lingo now. My cousin Kevin, who was just two years younger than me, beat me to the table. He was my aunts miracle child, she was never supposed to have children, which is why she was so close with me. Before Kevin, I was like her child. My parents would always pawn me off on her when they needed to leave town or they didn't want to take me somewhere. Despite our two year age difference Kevin and I got along quite well. "So I hear you've got a date tonight" He teased as I sat across from him.

I immaturely stuck my tongue out at him and continued to butter my toast. So it was a date. I knew it, but I honestly didn't care, I needed a good change. Maybe this would help. There was still no word from my parents, I knew they should have been back home by now, so obviously they didn't care that I was gone. For some reason I still felt the need to ask. "Um. Have you heard anything from my parents yet?"

Aunt Marie shook her head, "No darling I haven't. Would you like to try and call them?" She asked grasping my hand.

"No. Obviously they don't miss me, or they'd have tried to contact me, I'd rather not. I could stay here with you forever and not even care." I said smiling at her and my cousin.

She smiled back and nodded. I ate my breakfast slowly to pass the time. I still had several hours before my date, so I went upstairs and grabbed my copy of Macbeth off of my night stand and took it outside on the back porch. Macbeth was one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, I even starred in my high school production of it. Time had passed quicker than I expected, when my aunt came out onto the back porch with our guests. The woman standing behind my aunt was probably around 5'5 and slim, she had a very friendly face, pale blue eyes and long blond hair. The man standing next to her, her husband I presumed was tall around 6' and thin, soft facial features, bright blue eyes and short light brown hair. "Darling, these are my friends Thomas and Tina Pattinson. Tina, Tom this is my niece Heather." My aunt introduced us.

"Nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Pattinson." I said extending my hand to each of them.

"It's nice to meet you too dear, please call us Tina and Tom. And this is our son Robert," She said pulling him around the corner. Standing in front of me had to be the most gorgeous guy I'd ever seen. He was taller than his father by about 2 inches, thin, the same facial features as his father, angular cheek bones, pronounced chin, every inch of him was perfect. He had his mothers pale blue eyes, and a perfect bright smile, he had tussled brownish-blond hair. He smiled when our eyes met, and I couldn't help but smile too. "Hi, I'm Alexiana, but you can call me Alex." I said reaching my hand out for his.

"I'm Robert." He said shaking my hand.

"So I hear you've offered to take me out on the town tonight?"

"I did. Shall we?" He said in his silky smooth accented voice and reaching for my hand.

All I could do was smile like an idiot and take his hand. "Ok you two have fun now." I heard my aunt say as we walked inside to the front door.

"I haven't got a drivers license yet, so I hope you don't mind walking, everything is in a pretty close distance." He said in a low tone.

"Oh no, walking is fine. I like walking and it's nice out." I assured him as we walked down the street hand in hand.

"If you're uncomfortable holding my hand or anything just let me know." He sounded nervous, it was too adorable.

"It's a nice change, so if you don't mind I'd like to hold on." I smiled up at him.

"Not at all." He flashed a smiled down at me. "I know I said I'd take you around town, but what would you like to do?"

"Anything. I've been hauled up in the house so long that even just walking up and down the street is appealing." I laughed.

"May I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Why have you been in the house so long? Your aunt just told us that you'd been sick, but you look pretty healthy to me." He said scanning over me with his gorgeous eyes.

I had to look away, he was pulling me in and from previous experience, that was bad. I didn't need a man controlling my life, now that I finally got it on track, thanks to the help of Aunt Marie. "Well…" I hesitated, but I made the mistake of looking at him again, and our eyes met. He looked at me with such deep interest, not the way that Marques always did, I felt comfortable. I continued. "I was sick, just not the kind of sick that you all were imagining. I used to be a gymnast back home. Things got out of control with training and coaches and my parents never being around. I had a boyfriend, who was really controlling and just as bad as my coaches, he was actually the son of my toughest coach. Anyway to make a long story short, I had a really, really bad eating disorder. I would go weeks without eating a thing and then I would gorge myself with junk food for a day and then go throw it all up, and start over again with not eating. It eventually took its toll on me and I got injured at my last competition severely. A week later I went to an end of the school year party at my friends beach house and drank, a lot. Of course I had no food in my system so it was affecting me pretty badly. I got into a fight with my boyfriend Marques and literally ran home, where I passed out and woke up at the hospital 3 days later. He was there and I made them throw him out. I never wanted to see him again, because a lot of what was going on with me was his fault, he wasn't helping me he was making things worse. My parents called once while I was in the hospital, that was it. When I was released I went home and called my Aunt Marie, and here I am." I said finishing my story and taking a deep breath.

"Wow." was all he could manage to say at that point.

"Sorry." I apologized. "I didn't mean to go off like that. I just haven't really talked to anyone except my aunt about anything, and she doesn't even know all of what I've told you. You're just so easy to talk to. I can be kind of long winded sometimes, you'll just have to interrupt me next time." I laughed.

"No, no. It's alright. I'm glad you got it off your chest. I'm always here to listen. I just wasn't sure what else to say. I'm really sorry you had to go through all that. Someone as beautiful and sweet as you are should never have to endure anything like that." He said in a low serious tone.

I looked at him to see if he was just trying to seduce me in some way, but I saw nothing but honesty behind his eyes. I was so engrossed in my story that I hadn't realized how far we'd walked, or that the sun was setting. "The sky looks beautiful doesn't it." I said looking up. "What time is it anyway?"

"It does, and it's around 6. Would you like to have some tea? I know this excellent place just around the corner."

"Sounds fabulous." I said smiling at him again.

We walked to the restaurant still holding hands, it was odd, it seemed so natural to the both of us. Even though I'd only known him for less than 2 hours I felt like I'd known him my entire life. Maybe there was hope in this world after all. We ate and talked for 2 more hours in the restaurant just getting to know each other. We had a lot in common actually, my aunt must have known that. I'd been trying really hard while at my aunts to hold down to the rules, but now that she'd been giving me more freedom, some of my old ways were coming back to me. My illness was going to get the best of me again if I wasn't careful. I'd already slipped twice this week, I couldn't let it happen again. "Robert." I began.

"Please call me Rob." he corrected me.

"Rob, sorry. Um, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, what's that?"

"Can you just, not let me go to the bathroom, and if I insist, you must take me somewhere that you can accompany me."

"Um…ok…" He seemed confused, but agreed. I needed to explain it to him.

"I've slipped up already twice this week. I can't keep doing it. I need help, will you help me?" I asked looking into his eyes, tears welling behind mine.

"Of course." He said unconsciously reaching for my hand that was on the table and squeezing it to comfort me. "Would you like to get out of here now?"

"Please. Before I make a fool of myself, and you."

He called for the check and paid, then he stood and took my hand. We walked back outside and I started to cry softly, he stopped and pulled me tight up against his chest, wrapping his long arms around my body. I reached my arms around his waist and held myself as close to him as I possibly could. I don't even recall the last time I felt so comfortable, whole or happy, but somehow standing there in his arms, even in that sad moment I was having, I still felt happy. And it was all because of him. He made me happy, I don't know how, but he did, he made me not want to hurt myself and most of all, he made me not want to hurt him. "Come lets walk, there is a park near by here we can go and sit down." He whispered as he released all of me, except my hand. I let my right hand fall to my side as we walked towards the park straight ahead of us.

"You must think I'm insane." I said finally when we sat down on one of the benches that lined the walk way of the park.

"No I don't think you're insane. No body is perfect." He said placing his arm around my waist and pulling me into his side.

My heart skipped a few beats when he did that. "So anyway, tell me more about you." I encouraged him, taking the attention off myself.

"Well this fall I'm planning on auditioning for Barnes Theatre Club and some friends and I have recently started a band."

"Theatre and a band. You must be talented. I used to do plays back home, only for my school of course, but I did them none the less. I was always cast as the lead, but I think the teacher just liked me because I didn't suck up to her." I laughed and he laughed with me.

"You should try out for Barnes too. It could be fun."

"I don't think I'm that good, but I'd be more than happy to help you with your audition."

"I may take you up on that offer." He smiled.

We laughed and talked for the rest of the night on that park bench. I can't remember the last time I had so much fun with one person, with out actually doing anything. It took me awhile to notice that the air had turned slightly cooler and there was a light breeze going, I didn't realize it until I shivered into Rob's side. "We might want to head back." He said looking up at the sky.

"What time is it even?"

"Close to midnight. It looks like it's going to rain and it could storm, I think they were calling for one earlier in the day." He explained as we stood and headed back towards the house.

"Will your parents still be there?"

"Probably not. I'll just walk home it's not that far really."

"Don't be silly, someone will drive you home, or you can stay and sleep in my room, I'll sleep on the floor of course." I said looking at him as he tried to suppress a smile.

"Whatever you say, Heather." He winked at me.

Naturally 2 blocks from the house it started to pour. We ran back to the house a quickly as we could, but we were still soaked by the time we got there. All the lights were off except the porch. As we stepped onto the porch the first loud crack of thunder rumbled in the sky. "Come on." I whispered as I opened the door.

I turned off the porch lamp and lit the lamp by the phone in the living room. There was a little note there from my Aunt Marie, saying that she'd placed an extra blanket and pillow in my room on the floor. She must have had this planned all along, not that I was complaining. I reached my hand out for his. "Come. There is already a bed set up on the floor in my room. It's late and storming, you're staying here." I said leading him up the stairs. I heard him chuckle as we walked up the creaking stairs.

"You sleep in your bed, I'll take the floor." He insisted once we were in the room and the door was shut securely.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. What kind of gentleman would I be if I took your bed?"

I had no response for that, I just smiled at him. "Would you mind turning around while I change into something dry? Oh and also there is clothing for you laid out there on the chair."

He turned his back to me with a smile as I pulled my wet clothing off and slipped into a white tank top and shorts. When I turned around he was in his boxers sitting on the edge of my bed facing me. "Were you peaking?" I accused.

"What if I was?" He laughed.

"Were you?"

"It's a possibility, I suppose you'll never know." He winked.

I laughed and shook my head. I watched as he pulled the covers back on my bed. "Here, I'll tuck you in." He murmured in a soft voice.

I slid into my covers, never taking my eyes off of him as he pulled the covers up over me, his face just inches from mine. I wanted so badly to reach up and kiss him, but I resisted. Kissing him was the last thing I should do. "Would it be presumptuous for me to kiss you good night?" He asked.

Damn it! As much as I wanted to resist, I knew that I couldn't because I wanted it so badly. I shook my head and braced myself to fall, not physically of course. I closed my eyes and his soft, full perfect lips brushed mine ever so gently, and again, this time with a little more pressure. Before I could stop it, I was kissing him back. My arms snaked up around his neck, his hands rested on either side of my torso. I had to stop, before I let myself get to deep. I broke the kiss gasping for air, it was even more perfect than I'd imagined, my entire body was on fire, just from that little kiss. He chuckled and reached to turn out the light on my bedside table. "Good night beautiful." He whispered kissing my forehead and then laying down on the floor next to my bed.

The lightning flashed sharply outside, the thunder banged loudly, keeping me awake. I hated storms. "Rob." I whispered into the dark. "Are you still awake?"

"Yes."

"Will you come lay with me? I hate storms, they scare the crap out of me."

He didn't answer me, but I felt him slide under the covers with me. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close against his side. I turned and rested my head on his chest, feeling completely at ease. "Thanks," I whispered as he kissed my forehead.


	3. Chapter 3: Not So Perfect Weekend

It had been almost two months since Robert and I had our first date. We were still going strong, we spent every day together. My aunt, and Rob's parents couldn't have been happier either. I made good on my promise to help Rob with his audition for Barnes Theatre Group, he was still trying to convince me to do it with him. I hadn't told him, but more recently I'd been considering it, I always loved the way I felt when I was in front of an audience.

We sat out in the backyard on a blanket going over Rob's audition, and mine, should I choose to try out. The sun beat down on us brutally, but the warmth felt nice. I'd started calling my aunt Marie Mom, which is exactly what she's always been to me, even when she moved here, I always turned to her. My parents were too preoccupied with their own lives and my sisters to even think about me. Mom kept bringing Rob and I drinks and food to refuel on. Neither of us ate much, only because the heat had subsided our appetites. "Could I talk to you both for a moment?" mom asked sitting on the bench by our blanket.

"Of course. What's up?"

"Rob's parents have called and asked dad and I, if we'd like to go away with them for the weekend to Surrey for some shopping and such. Would the two of you mind looking after Kevin while we're gone?"

"We don't mind." We answered at the same time and then smiled at each other.

"I trust that the two of you will be on your best behavior." She smiled, but her tone was serious.

"Naturally. Don't worry everything will be fine." Rob assured her.

"Well then it's settled. Kevin won't be any trouble, you know that. He's very independent and it's not as though he is a child, just don't let him off running the street until all hours of the night."

"We won't mum, promise." I assured her, I was starting to get an accent when I said certain words, sometimes I caught myself off guard. Rob thought it was adorable.

"Okay, I am going to get our things ready, Rob do you need to go to your house and get clothing? Or did you want your parents to bring you a trunk?"

He laughed. "I'd rather go get my own trunk, mum's not the best judge of what I wear anymore." He joked.

Mom laughed too and tossed me the key to the car, I had my license so I could take him to the house. "Here take the car and get the poor guy his trunk."

"Alright. Thanks mum. Love you." I said taking the key and kissing her on the cheek.

"Come on handsome, lets go get you some clothing." I winked at him as I stood.

Rob stood and reached for my hand as we walked to the car port for the car. The drive from my house to his is quite short, only about ten minutes. I had to retake my drivers test when I got here, due to the fact that for one thing they drive on the opposite side of the road, and some of the rules are different. I adjusted easier than I'd expected to though, it came naturally to me, it was strange. Rob's sisters, whom were both older than him were away often. His one sister was a singer, and the other was away at University. The houses in our neighborhood looked much the same, Rob's was just slightly bigger than mine. "Heather, dear it's good to see you again. You look fantastic!" Tina exclaimed as we walked in the door and she scooped me into a hug.

"Thank you. It's good to see you again as well." I smiled.

"Hey kids." Tom said entering the den from the kitchen. "How are your auditions coming along?"

"Rob is doing amazing, mine, not so much. I think I'm too much of a perfectionist and its frustrating me." I confessed.

Rob was nodding his head in agreement. "I'm going to go grab my trunk. I'll be down in a minute."

I sat in the den with his parents chatting until he came down. It pleased me greatly that his parents thought so highly of me. Of course, I was making their son happy, why should they not. All I kept thinking about though was having an entire weekend alone, well almost alone with Rob. Kevin is only two years younger than Rob and I and he spends most of his time playing videos games in his room, or playing sports outside with his friends. Rob finished gathering what he wanted and brought his trunk downstairs. We all left at the same time to go back to my house. Upon our return, and Rob's parents arrival, the four of them left for their weekend in Surrey. Kevin was away with his friends, and had already asked moms permission to stay the night there, so Rob and I were completely alone for our first night. "Alone at last," he smirked pushing me gently against the wall at the back of the kitchen and kissing me.

I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him closer to me. Naturally I had to stand on my tip toes, even as he leaned down towards me. Just as our kiss was beginning to get really intense the phone rang. I sighed and pulled away from him to answer the bloody phone. "Hello?"

"Heather?" I heard a familiar voice on the other line, my real mother.

I rolled my eyes. "Who else would it be? What do you want?"

Rob eyed me curiously as I spoke, and walked towards me, wrapping his arm around my waist. Why was she calling now? Why did she suddenly decide to care? It didn't matter in the least, I wasn't going back, I've never been happier. I realized this the moment I arrived at the airport, and even more so now, every time I called my aunt Marie 'Mum' and every time I starred into those gorgeous blue eyes. "I can't call and just want to talk with my own daughter?"

"Um. Gee let me think about that? No! Not when I've been gone for over five months, and you only now try to contact me! What the hell is wrong with you? Really? Why don't you just leave me alone!"

"Don't you take that tone with me young lady! I am your mother, you will respect me."

"My mother? Ha! Since when have you been my mother? Seems to me you only have two children, not three. FIVE MONTHS! I'VE BEEN GONE FIVE MONTHS! I don't need you, nor do I want you! I am perfectly happy here, and I plan on staying. Don't call here again. I don't want to hear anything you have to say! Just leave me alone!" I screamed into the phone and then slammed it back down on the charger.

I sank into Rob's side sobbing, I threw my arms around his neck as he picked me up and carried me to the living room. He said nothing, he just held me on the sofa as I cried. As happy as I was here, as much as I loved my aunt as my own mother, the fact that my real parents didn't care about me still hurt. It ripped at me the more I thought about it. Especially when I realized the only reason my mother was calling was because my fathers huge benefit dinner for his job was coming up in just two weeks and my God how would it look if they were missing a child. I suppose they should have fucking thought about that before they decided to ignore their youngest at all costs. This was ridiculous, why should I let them ruin my perfect weekend. I'd stopped crying and my eyes stung, but I was determined not to shed another tear for them.

"Are you alright love?" Rob finally asked.

I sat up and turned to face him, placing my legs on either side of his body and wrapping my arms around his neck. I took a deep breathe, "I'm fine, now. I'm so sorry you had to see all of that."

"Don't be sorry. I understand, I'm just glad I could be here for you, not that I did much, but,"

"You being here was more than enough," I interrupted him and pressed my lips to his. "Thank you." I said between kisses.

"My pleasure." He laughed

I can't recall how long we cuddled there on the sofa, kissing, but all I know is that it was just the remedy I needed to forget about my problems with my birth parents. Just being in Rob's presence made me feel better, he was my savior so to speak, the only thing keeping me sane at this point. He was my everything, even though we'd only known each other for a little over seven months. "So what's the plan for tonight?" I finally broke the kiss and asked him.

"What would you like the plan to be?"

"Hmm." I thought for a moment. "I'm not sure. This is fine with me." I sighed, snuggling in closer to him.

"We could watch a movie and stay just like this." He smiled down at me.

"Sounds good to me."

Rob picked the original Romeo and Juliet movie, for me because it is one of my favorites, I enjoy the new one just as much, but the classic is always better. After he put the movie in her went and brought us both a Diet Pepsi and a bag of chips. He laid down on the couch behind me and pulled me down so I was laying in front of him then he covered us with the blanket from the back of the sofa and wrapped his arms tightly around me. I must have been tired because I fell asleep just 30 minutes into the movie, and I'm sure that Rob did soon after. We slept the whole night like that on the sofa together, I woke up around five in the morning and turned the t.v. off, then I settled back into Rob's arms and fell fast asleep again. Neither of us woke again until there was as pounding on the front door.

I jumped up terrified at the deafening pounding coming from the front door. Rob jumped up at the same time and we walked to the door together. I couldn't see who or what was outside, but I opened the mahogany door anyway, and there they stood, my worst nightmare. My parents, the fury in their eyes was in describable, I tried to slam the door shut in their faces, but my father caught it before I even had a chance and shoved his way inside. "Go get her things, NOW!" He commanded my mother, and she sprinted up the steps to my room to grab my things. She knew because I always stayed in the same room every time I came here to visit, only this time was supposed to be for good.

"Dad! You can't do this to me! You can't me make me leave! I won't leave! I want to stay here. I hate you!" I screamed at him as the tears poured down my cheeks and I buried my face into Rob's chest.

The words that escaped my mouth sent my fathers rage over the top and he gripped me up out of Rob's arms and slapped me hard across the face. It felt like my entire left cheek had been punctured by a million tiny needles. Rob was about to defend me, but I shot him a warning look, the last thing I needed or wanted was for something to happen to him, it was bad enough that he needed to see all of this. I heard my mother running down the stairs with my things and I sobbed louder, uncontrollably. My father released me and I ran straight into Rob's arms once again, holding myself as tightly to him as possible, and I kissed him. "I love you so much. Call my aunt as soon as we are out of the house. I will be back! Please! I love you." I whispered in his ear.

"I love you too. I will I promise. I will come after you if I have to." He whispered back.

Just then my father yanked me from Robert's arms once again and threw me into the car and sped off towards the airport.


	4. Chapter 4: Back Home but Reunited

I didn't remember any of the ten hour flight home, I spent most of it sleeping, the rest of it crying. I felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest, my entire body ached and I was weak. And even though I slept over ten hours I felt like I could still sleep. I was miserable for many reasons, I was with people who didn't give a fuck about me, except when they needed me around for show to their friends and co workers. And the people who did care about me were thousands of miles away. This is where everything began, and I could feel it now, it was only going to get worse. What was I going to do without Rob, without all of them? The twenty minute drive from the airport was the worst, the pain just got worse, giant hole in my chest grew with each second and all I could do was cry, how I had any tears left, I'm not even sure. As we pulled into the long cobblestone drive way leading to my parents mansion I became hysterical. When we stopped at the front steps my father jumped out of the car and ripped open my door dragging me out and throwing me onto the front porch, "Stop crying, Now!" He shouted grabbing my bags from the trunk of the car.

His shouting only made me even more hysterical. I pulled myself up from the porch grabbed my bags and ran into the house before my father could get to me. I sprinted up the staircase and threw myself into my room, slamming the door and locking it. I threw my bags on the floor and frantically looked for something I could move to block my door. Straight ahead of me was my white king-sized canopy bed, everything was still in it's place as though I'd never left at all. My vanity was just on right beside the door, my desk was up against my left wall, with my bookshelf just to the right of it, a large armoire and dresser lined my right wall and my entertainment center lined the wall to the right of the door, a small couch sat in front of the entertainment center. I quickly ran over and pushed the small couch with all of my strength up against my bedroom door. I had to think, I had to find a way out of the house. My cell phone was left on the coffee table back in London, but I had my own phone line in my bedroom. I quickly grabbed my phone and dialed my aunt Marie's house phone. Rob should still be there and I'm sure that my aunt, uncle and Rob's parents were back, considering the situation. "Hello?" I heard a frantic voice answer. My heart skipped, it was Rob.

"Rob," I cried, from the pain of the hole in my chest and because it was so comforting to hear his voice, but agonizing at the same time. Agonizing because I couldn't be with and agonizing because he was also in pain.

"Heather! Love how are you? I've been so worried, I miss you so much. I love you." He managed to stumble out, his voice slightly breaking with each word.

"I miss you and love you too. I've locked myself in my room and pushed my sofa in front of the door. My father is on a rampage. Is my mum there?" I asked him, though I really didn't want to get off the phone with him.

"Yes, she is here. I love you." He whispered before handing off the phone.

"Darling, are you alright? What happened?" She asked panicked.

"My mom called soon after you left, and we had a fight, I was upset because you know they didn't call or care all that time, and now they wanted to act like they did. Then they just showed up! And my dad freaked out. I don't know what to do. I can't stay here. I don't want to be here. My life is there now, not here." I began to sob uncontrollably again.

"Calm down sweetie please. Just calm down. I will figure something out, I promise. But it's going to be hard darling. Your father is a lawyer after all darling. But please be sure. I will figure something out. I promise you that. Just hang in there. Just don't make them any angrier."

"So what am I supposed to do? Just go back to how everything was until we figure something out? I don't know if I can do that. I'm scared. I need you, and Rob. I feel empty. And I highly doubt they will let me have any visitors now. I'm going to be like a prisoner." I mumbled as I gained control of my tears.

"Do what you can darling, please. I don't want anything to happen to you. Just be careful and remember we all love you."

"I love you too," I gasped. "Someone's coming upstairs. I've got to go. Bye" I said quickly hanging up the phone.

I pushed my sofa out of the way of the door and unlocked the door and threw myself on the bed. My door flew open, and my mother entered slamming it behind her. "What the hell is your problem? Who do you think you are?" She screamed at me walking closer. "You have obligations and responsibilities here! You can't just walk away from them!"

I sat up and glared at her. "Obligations! Responsibilities! They were killing me! I was sick in the hospital because I hurt myself and all you could do was call once, you couldn't even come home and check on me and be with me! You don't care! You just want me around for show. I hate it here! I want to go back! I want to go back now! I'll emancipate you both! Aunt Marie will take me in just like she always has! She's been there for me my entire life, which is more than I can say for either of you two! And that includes being across country!" I screamed back!

Before I could even blink she slapped me across the face hard, once, twice, three times. It felt like the side of my faces was on fire and being pierced with a million tiny needles. My mother was strong, there was not denying that, and when she was angry….well that made things even worse. At least it wasn't my father, that's all I kept thinking. I had to keep reminding myself, of what Aunt Marie said, as hard as it was going to be I just needed to go along with everything. All I had to do was put on a fake smile everyday and pretend like everything was ok, until there was a plan to get me the fuck out of here. My body was so numb that I didn't even feel alive anymore. The pain in my face subsided, the only pain I felt came from the gaping hole in my chest that refused to close. "Baby. I'm so sorry Heather, sweetie." My mom apologized just minutes after hitting me. She sat on the bed next to me.

This is how it always went. Nothing had changed, nothing ever would, but I needed to play it cool. "Mama. I'm sorry. I just, I just needed to get away. And it seemed like you and daddy didn't care. You didn't come home when I got hurt and then when I left, you didn't call for so long, that I just figured you didn't care." I said in the most convincing voice I could. "I have only one request." I said looking at her attentively.

"And what's that?" She asked eying me suspiciously.

"That Robert be able to come and visit me. I can't live with out him mama. Please." I begged.

"I suppose that's a reasonable request. When would you like him to visit?"

"As soon as he possibly can! I miss him so much mama. I've spent everyday with him since I've been gone! I love him." I confessed. This time my confession being true.

"Call him. Arrange it with his parents. I'll go speak with your father." She said patting my leg and rising to walk out of the room.

I took the opportunity while she was being nice. I grabbed my phone and dialed Rob's parents house, they would surly be home by now. "Hello?" I heard an unfamiliar voice answer.

"Um. Hi. Can I speak with Rob please?" I murmured.

"Sure, who's calling?"

"Heather, his girlfriend." I stated with more authority than really necessary.

"Oh hi! I'm his older sister Lizzy. Here he is, it was nice talking to you." She said before handing him the phone.

"Heather! How are you?"

"Crappy. But on the plus side, I've convinced them that I want to stay now, just like mum said to do. The only thing I told them I needed was to see you. So they've agreed to let you come and visit here, they will pay for everything."

"Really? They don't need to do that. I think my parents would let me come. Hold on a moment." He said excitedly sitting down the phone. I could over-hear the murmur of voices as I waited. Finally he picked up the phone again. "They've agreed. I just need to know the information."

I could hear the enthusiasm in his voice, and my heart leaped, the hole in my chest closed slightly, but I knew it would still be open until I was in his arms. "Hang on." I said moving the phone from my face so that I wouldn't be screaming in his ear. "Ma! Come here please!" I yelled downstairs.

"Coming." She yelled back, her Cuban accent was thicker when she yelled loudly. "What is it darling?"

"We need to know flight info and such. Rob's parents said its ok."

She quickly walked over to the computer on my desk and booked the flight, reading me the information so I could repeat it to Rob. Apparently my father had already left for another big case in New York so I wouldn't be seeing him for awhile at least. Now all I needed to do was wait agonizingly until Rob arrived. He would be here in two days. I could manage that long. I just needed to keep myself busy. I spent the next two days rekindling my broken friendships with my best friends. They were the only people here I cared about. They were excited when I told them about Rob, and couldn't wait to meet him. I hadn't started training again yet, and I had no intentions of doing so, at least not at the gym. If I did anything it was going to be for me, and no one else. The time had now come. I was waiting rather impatiently for him to walk off the plane, through the terminal and into my arms. It wouldn't be long now, his flight had just arrived, just a few more minutes and I would be in his arms again. I could feel the hole in my chest closing with each tick of the clock. And then I saw him, standing there right in front of me with his gorgeous smile and blue eyes.


	5. Chapter 5: Together Again

I ran through the crowd of people that separated us, tears in my eyes, I leapt into his and began to sob. My tears were a mixture of joy and sadness, but at the moment the joy was over powering everything else. The gaping hole in my chest had sealed and my heart was racing as I kissed his neck, his cheek, his forehead and finally his lips. He just held me tight and reassured me that everything would be fine. Rob set me back on my feet, I took his hand and we walked to get his bags and leave. The people who were standing around us during our very public embrace were staring, and we couldn't have care less. We were together, and that was more than enough for the both of us.

After grabbing his bags from claim, we headed out to the parking garage where my brand new electric blue Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder awaited. I could have had a BMW or a Mercedes, but the only car I wanted was the one I had. My car was completely tricked out for street racing inside and out. I watched Rob's eyes get huge as he saw which car we were walking to. "Is that yours?" He asked looking at me slightly shocked.

I smiled widely and nodded. "It sure is." I said trying to suppress a giggle at the surprised look on his face. "Never seen a girl drive a car like this before?"

"Not except in movies." He laughed placing his bags in the trunk.

He walked around to the drivers side and opened my door for me. I slid into my seat and started the engine so I could put the top down. "You may want to buckle up." I winked at him.

He laughed again and buckled himself in. I turned the music down, as I had been blaring it on the way over to the airport. "So what do you want to do?" I turned to him. "We can do pretty much anything, except go to the pub. However, my mom did say we could drink at the house."

"That's right I forgot it's illegal to drink over hear unless you are 21. As for what I want to do, it really doesn't matter as long as I'm with you. Can you tell me, what exactly am I in store for back at the house?" He asked cautiously.

I giggled. "Don't worry about anything, my sisters have stayed in New York with my aunt and my father has already left for three upcoming cases he has going on. One in Boston, one in Rhode Island and one in Vermont, so he won't be back for quite some time. My mother, is mostly influenced by my father, so there is nothing to worry about. She is actually anxious to meet you formally and under better circumstances this time." I explained to him as we sped down the highway towards Orange County.

"I suppose we should just head home first then. I'm pretty exhausted from the flight anyway, and we will do something fun out tomorrow."

"Sounds good to me." I smiled up at him as I weaved my way through traffic.

I couldn't stop myself from glancing over at him every so often. Due to my driving we were pulling into the cobblestone driveway in half the time it should have taken us. "Sorry. I drive like a maniac when I'm here. I think it's the car." I joked as I pulled the car into the garage.

Before I could even get my seatbelt undone, Rob was opening my door for me. I smiled up at him as I took his hand and stepped out of the car. We grabbed his bags from the trunk and headed out of the garage and towards the front of the house. My mom had Monica, one of our house keepers waiting at the front door to take Rob's bags to the guest room located directly across from mine. I could see that he looked nervous, I took his hand to assure him that everything was going to be fine. "Come on she is outside by the pool waiting for us." I said walking towards the French doors at the back of the house.

"This place is huge." Rob said amazed as we walked through the dinning room.

I just shrugged. This house meant nothing to me, it was just a house. "It's just a house. I can't stand it. I miss our old house so much. It was nice and small and uncomplicated." I said as we reached the doors.

"Mom," I called as we walked outside. She was sunbathing by the pool.

She stood and walked over to us. "Mom, this is Rob, Rob this is my mom Mayra." I introduced them gesturing between the two of them.

"Hello Mrs. Luciano." Rob said extending his hand to my mother.

"Please call me Mayra. I'm sorry for the way we first met." she smiled at him and then gave him a hug. "I'm so pleased to meet you formally now, you make my daughter very happy. I can see that now." She added releasing him.

"She makes me happy too." He smiled his long arm around my tiny waist, that had already gotten smaller since I'd left London. He glanced down at me with a slight frown as he now realized this in a more relaxed setting. He hadn't noticed at the airport with all of the chaos.

I lowered my head slightly and then glanced at my mother. "Mama we're going to go get things settled in Rob's room." I said turning on my heel and pulling him along with me.

My mother went back to sunbathing by the pool and Rob and I made our way up to his room across the hall from mine. As we were walking up the stairs Rob stopped me. "Have you eaten since you left London?" He asked in a stern voice.

I couldn't say anything, I felt so ashamed. I shook my head and looked down at my feet. I heard him sigh as he positioned himself directly in front of me. He took my face in his hands and forced me to look at him. His voice was just a whisper as he spoke to me. "Darling, you need to eat. Do you think that I want to lose you or that Marie wants to lose you? None of us do. Please." He begged staring into my eyes.

I nodded in agreement and stretched on my tip toes to kiss him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer to me. Both of his arms snaked around my waist and he backed me up against the wall on the stairs kissing me passionately. None of our other kisses had been quite like this one. This kiss was as though all the guards were down and there were no boundaries we wouldn't cross. This kiss frightened me, and excited me at the same time. It frightened me because I wasn't sure I was ready for our relationship to take this turn just yet, but it excited me because as much as I was afraid, I wanted him so badly. There was no space between my back and the wall and there was no space between Rob and I, our bodies were smashed together in our passionate embrace. "Ahem!" We heard my mother clear her throat at the bottom of the stairs.

I sighed and pushed Rob back, the both of us flushed bright red as we saw her standing just two steps down from us. How long had she been standing there, I wondered. "Sorry ma." I giggled grabbing Rob's arm and walking quickly up the rest of the stairs and into his room.

"Alright, this is going to be your room." I winked at him and then lowered my voice. "I'm directly across the hall."

A wide smile spread across his face. Good lord how I loved that smile. I picked up one of bags off the floor, set it on the bed and began taking things out and putting them in drawers for him. "What are you doing?" He asked me as he sat on the bed.

"Well we'd better make it look like we got SOMETHING done in here, before my mom comes and checks on us." I said shoving the last shirt into its drawer and sliding the bag under the bed.

"Oh. I see." He smiled. "Now that, that's all done with," He smiled reaching for my hand and pulling me across the bed to him. He kissed me just as passionately as he did on the staircase.

We wrapped our arms around each other and let the moment over take us. He rolled onto his back pulling me on top of him and holding me securely in place. It was happening again, I wasn't sure how long I could resist, my will power was going to pieces with each second that ticked by, suddenly he was bracing himself on top of me, still never breaking our kiss. His hands began to wander slowly down my arms, across my stomach. I felt my shirt gently gliding upward and gasped. I wasn't ready for this, not yet at least. And yet I want him so badly I fought with myself in my mind, no I have to stop him before I can't. Quickly I grabbed his hand gently and finally broke our kiss. "Robert. Wait." I said gasping for air.

He pulled back and looked at me confused for a moment until he realized that I was scared, then he rolled back onto his side and pulled me closer holding me tight against his chest. "I'm sorry." he whispered. "I just can't seem to control myself around you any longer." He smiled and kissed my cheek.

I smiled back at him, really I couldn't control myself either, but I had to resist, at least for now. I wasn't ready yet. I wasn't ready the first time, that was something that was taken from me and I could never get it back. Perhaps this is why I was so hesitant, all I knew was that I wanted and needed my first time with Robert to be perfect, not rushed or interrupted in anyway, just perfect. "I know." I breathed. "I can't either, but I have to." I confessed.

"May I ask why?" He pulled back searching my eyes waiting for me to answer.

"I have to tell you something. I haven't told anyone this, not even my best friend." I murmured averting my eyes from his gaze.

"You can tell me anything."

"Ok…here it goes. Well you know I told you about the party I was at before I came to London, the one that I was at the night I went to the hospital." I said looking at him again.

He nodded and I continued. "Well, just the day before that I had been training like usual and then Marques my ex. Decided we should go to the beach and hang out. At this point I was pretty well detached from any activity I did with Marques anyway. He was part of my problem, he was never helping me, just making it worse. There is so much to that story that I don't even want to get into right now. Anyway, I agreed to go to the beach with him, I figured he would be surfing most of the time anyway so I would be able to lay out listening to music and reading." I paused as the painful memory came back to me full force now. This was the first time I'd spoken about to anyone since it happen. I starred into Rob's beautiful blue eyes gained back my confidence. There was nothing but love in his eyes for me, he looked at me in a way that Marques never had, or ever could because Marques was a madman.

I continued again still starring into Rob's eyes. "So we get to the beach and I realize it's the secluded beach that we usually held parties and bon fires at, his dad owns that land. Everything was fine at first, just as I expected, he was surfing, I was reading and listening to my head phones. But then something changed when he came out of the water, he had this awful, hateful, determined look in his eye. I don't want to get into all the details, but long story short, he…raped…me…" I managed to choke out before I began crying hysterically into Rob's chest.

He pulled my face up so he could look into my eyes. "Heather. I will never hurt you." He assured me and gently brushed his lips against mine.

"I know." Was all I could say, but it was enough.

I could feel a huge weight lifted off of me, now that I wasn't keeping this deep dark secret any longer. I snuggled in closer to him and lay there completely content. I hadn't even realized we'd both fallen asleep until my mother knocked once and opened the door. "It's time for dinner you two." She said gently closing the door again.

I sighed and sat up to pull my hair into a loose ponytail. "I suppose we should go down and eat," I said taking Rob's hand and leading him down to the kitchen.

"So what are your plans for the evening?" My mother asked as we all finished our authentic arroz con pollo.

"I think we are just staying in tonight, Rob's pretty exhausted from the trip and the time change. We might go for a swim though."

"That sounds nice. Julia and Magda are coming over tonight for a movie downstairs. We haven't decided on a movie yet, so feel free to join us if you'd like." She offered as we stood.

"Thanks mom, we'll consider it in our plans." I smiled. "Thanks for dinner also."

"Yes, thank you for the dinner, it was amazing." Rob gushed.

My mother smiled hugely, she loved nothing more than when people complimented her cooking. I knew it was her arroz con pollo I could always tell the difference. She must have given Monica the rest of the night off. Rob took my hand as we walked back upstairs. "So, when do I get to see your room?" He asked flashing me his unbelievable smile.

"Now I suppose." I laughed and opened my door. "Do you want to go swimming? Or we could just relax in the hot tub or something. You tell me." I winked at him closing the door behind us.

"I could go for a swim."

"Ok. Go put your trunks on and I'll change into my bathing suit and we can head down then."

Rob smiled, kissed me on the cheek and went to his room to change into his swimming trunks. I quickly ran to my closet to find my cutest bathing suit. I grabbed my brown bikini with pale blue flowers on it and threw it on as fast as I could. I was just finishing tying the right side of my bikini bottom when Rob walked back into the room. I turned to look at him as I heard my door close and we smiled at each other. "Ready?" I asked walking over to him. I was so small standing in front of him that the top of my head came just slightly above his chin.

He nodded and took my hand as we walked downstairs and out to the pool. My mom was in an oddly happy mood and before she went down to set up the movie screen for her little get together she set up the bar by the pool for Rob and I. Rob grabbed himself a beer and made me a mango martini then he set them both by the edge of the Jacuzzi and jumped in the pool, swimming over to me. I swam towards him, meeting him halfway and pushing him under the water. We laughed and splashed each other, like everything was perfectly fine and the past didn't exist.


End file.
